hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall. following two new breaking stories at the white house, vice president joe biden announced he and his gun violence task force members will make the recommendations to president obama by next tuesday. right now, they're holding what could be a showdown meeting with the nra and other gun owner groups. it comes after the nra's president lashed out at president obama in a new internet radio interview. >> i think they're being disingenuous. i think they have seen this as an opportunity to go after the 2nd amendment which they have wanted to do for years. also breaking, the atlantic pastor to deliver the benediction at president obama's second term inauguration is announcing to withdraw from the ceremony amid questions of an

anti-gay sermon he gave in the mid-'90s. >> if you look at the counsel of the word of the god, you come quickly to the conclusion that homosexuality is not an alternate lifestyle. it is not just a sexual preference. it is not gay. but homosexuality is sin. >> the presidential inaugural committee issued a statement saying, quote, we were not aware of pastor giglio's past comments at the time of his collection and they don't reflect our desire to celebrate the strength and diversity of our country at this inaugural. before we get to vice president biden's big meeting with the nra, talk about this pastor. he decided to step aside. he wasn't to our knowledge at least told to step down. what else do you know? >> reporter: well, right now, they're trying to figure out who should replace him. the white house hasn't officially commented on that,

tamron. remember, this comes after the 2008 inauguration in which rick warren, pastor warren, who delivered the benediction there, got a lot of criticism for some comments that people deemed to be homophobic. so clearly this was a way of averting that type of criticism again. the decision to withdraw coming from the reverend himself. that's what we're being told at this point in time and we are waiting to see who will replace him. but those comments clearly would have drawn some unwanted criticism for this second inaugural which, by the way, is sort of a scaled down version of the first inauguration back in 2008. tamron? >> let's go to the other big story, of course, guns. the vice president meeting for a second day. this meeting now with the nra. what do reknow other than the big headline which is the vice president says some kind of recommendations will be presented to the president tuesday. >> reporter: well, that is the big headline coming out today. and of course, vice president made headlines yesterday by saying that president obama is prepared to take executive action to try to prevent the

types of tragedies like the one that just occurred in newtown, connecticut. not giving a lot of details of what that executive direction might look like. vice president biden talking about some of the ideas that have been bantied back and forth in these meetings. here's what he had to say today. take a listen. >> there's an emerging set of recommendations, not coming from me, but coming from the groups we have met with. and i'm going to focus on the ones that relate primarily to gun ownership, the type of weapons can be owned. and one is there is a surprising, so far, a surprising recurrence of suggestions that we have universal background checks. >> reporter: now, tamron, it is hard to see what tangible results will come out of the vice president's meeting with the nra because heading in to this meeting they're still miles

apart. remember, the ceo of the nra called for armed guards in schools. that's an idea that the president and white house said they won't consider. we'll bring the latest as we get it. tamron? >> thank you. let's bring in the political panel. radio talk show host and msnbc contributor michael smer con niche and democratic strategist chris kofinis. michael, it's interesting kristen ended the live shot with the recommendation of the nra with armed guards at school. we have another school incident. this one at taft high school, a shooting in taft, california. this is about 40 miles southwest of bakersfield. a student according to the reports came on to campus this morning armed with a shotgun. went inside one of the clasdss and shot another student believed to have nonlife threatening injuries. a teacher may have been grazed by the pellet.

again, according to this report, a shooting within the boundaries of a school and the same moment the nra at the white house. what do you believe they're putting on the table if anything different? >> what i find interesting is the vice president has three different meetings today as part of this effort and that he met separately with the sportsman and then the nra and the point i'm trying to make, tamron, is that i think their interests are not entirely lockstep and maybe for political purposes, the white house is trying to appeal to the sportsman looking at the incident just as you described and say, ladies and gentlemen, we are not coming after your weapons for your ability to deer or duck hunt but we have a problem with too much weaponry in all the wrong hands. and maybe go after that electorate as opposed to the nra and frankly never shown a willingness to give any ground. >> to that point, chris, you have a radio interview. david king saying before the

meeting happened today, i think they're disingenuous and they have seen this as an opportunity to go after the 2nd amendment and wanted to do for decades. that was the comment made before the meeting started, chris. >> yeah. it doesn't necessarily suggest there's a lot of room for discussion. i mean, the nra i think has a particular strategy and clear. not to give an inch of ground. i think the part that they're failing to acknowledge or recognize is that country in a lot of dramatic ways changed after newtown, in the newtown shooting, and now the question is, how does the vice president, how does the president deal with three key groups, the stake holders that they're meeting with, victims groups, whether the families of newtown or others who have suffered from gun violence and then the key one, the members of congress. those key individuals in the senate and the house that may move and help give some momentum. it's really difficult but i think if nothing else, what happened in connecticut has changed the country in a

dramatic way and there clearly is some momentum but the nra going to fight every day to stop that momentum. >> i want to play -- chuck todd had this on his show this morning. 1990, charlton heston, the nra president at the time, fighting against president clinton, then president, over gun control efforts despite bill clinton saying, listen, i'm from gun country. we have to make a move. and actually, even invited the nra to the table. here was charlton heston in '94. >> i'm amazed at -- as was true in the civil rights struggle in the '60s how much deception, how much deliberate misstatement of reality is taking place in this debate. >> so amy, when you hear this comment and several others including the internet comment of david king, it seems the nra strategy is we're under siege.

yesterday's executive action mentioned by joe biden, we know, set off a firestorm with some conservatives. how's there a reasonable conversation when an organization sees themselves as a victim, amy? >> i think the white house is that they have great respect for the 2nd amendment. >> every time the white house says that, you then have what i pointed to, others who say, yes, you are. how do you meet them in the middle? >> it's going to be hard. that's for sure. i mean, but i think they're going to have to meet in the middle. the person to do that is vice president biden. coming off the fiscal cliff debate. a lot of friends on the hill and the senate. maybe they can strike a balance. >> let me play bill clinton. a speech yesterday at the consumer electronics show in las vegas but he talked about the hunting culture and touched on, of course, this debate, as well. let's play mr. clinton from yesterday.

>> i grew up in this hunting culture but this is nuts. why does anybody need a 30-clip -- a 30-round clip for a gun? why does anybody need one of those thing that is carries 100 bullets? >> and michael, that very question from the former president is the one you've asked and many others including me believes of the nra who may be looking within themselves as to what is the right solution here? but you also have this meeting coming up at 3:15. walmart, the nation's largest gun retailer patienting in the meeting not with joe biden but attorney general eric holder and, michael, it's interesting. walmart didn't want to participate and underestimated the interest here. what do you think of at least that reaction and that they're meeting with the attorney general as opposed to being a part of the other sessions? >> i think that walmart was worried about the downside in the public discourse about this if they didn't show up and

probably that's what brought the nra to the same meeting. i thought what was interesting about the president's words, president clinton, is how much they mirrored what general mcchrystal said on "morning joe" i think it was tuesday morning and, tamron, on my radio program today, tom ridge, the nation's first secretary of homeland security and republican from a gun state embraced what mcchrystal said and the significance is, you know, these are new voices to this debate. when you get a general mcchrystal weighing in on something like this, i think it carries sway. >> chris, do you believe that? >> i think it helps. i mean, any time, especially with a diversity of senators or members of the public, prominent figures talking about this, general mcchrystal's statement is striking. heerl's a man that carried the assault weapons defending this country his career and the idea to go off the street and buy a semiautomatic version of it is pretty striking. what i hope happens is there's a realization that you can defend the 2nd amendment and have

reasonable common sense controls on guns that keep guns out of individuals that will do others harm. i think it can be done. >> we'll see the ideas. they'll go to the president according to joe biden on tuesday and we'll see if we get at least a glimmer of what's on that paper. but amy, before i let you go, i want to go back to joe biden's remarks on the executive action in response to that, republican jeff duncan of south carolina said in a statement, the founding fathers never envisioned executive orders to restrict the constitutional rights. we live in a republic, not a dictatorship. referring the president threatening executive order. do you believe that there are some who will attempt to use that comment tomorrow as an excuse to fuel the fire? you've got protests at the state capitol in denver, colorado, yesterday. as the state legislature convened and they were considering new gun

restrictions. >> well, i don't think they're going to go that far but i think what you see is a common ground. there's talk of background checks, universal background checks and some kind of monitoring where they can track the sales of weapons. i think we'll see something along that line and what my sources tell me at the white house. >> see if the sources are right. i'm sure they are. chris, thank you. michael, see you tomorrow. >> thank you. developing at the white house, president obama makes the choice, you probably just saw it about 12 minutes ago. the treasury official. in the last hour, the president nominated the current white house chief of staff jack lew to replace timothy geithner. >> jack has my complete trust. i know i'm not alone in that. in the words of one former senator, having lew on your team is the equivalent of a coach of having the luxury of putting somebody at almost any position and knowing he will do well. >> joining me is john harwood, a lot of nice compliments for mr.

lew. we do we anticipate any trouble? we have heard one or two republicans expressing unhappiness with the selection. >> reporter: well, i just got a tweet from his former spokesman at omb which said that jack lew before the full senate for confirmation five times. not a single no vote so far. i would not expect that to be the case this time but i don't think there's a serious threat to the nomination. jack lew is confident, self effacing. he is easy to get along with. yes, a tough negotiator. some republicans didn't like that. yes, some republicans don't like president obama's economic policies. fair enough. that's not much of a reason to vote against him. i wouldn't expect much opposition. >> thank you very much, john. great pleasure fitting you in on that developing story, as well. up next, have you heard this one? charlie rangel, harsh words

earlier for the president over a lack of diversity in the president's inner circle. >> it's embarrassing as hell. we've been through all this with mitt romney. >> i'll talk to "the washington post's" reporter. plus, former pennsylvania governor rendell sharing his thoughts and you can tell us what you think, as well. you are the third member of the panel. do you agree with critics saying the president has a diversity problem? it is the "news nation" "gut check." plus -- >> the difference between me and a number of people is that i have said so publicly and the rest are being coy. >> backing barney frank. several liberal organizations come forward to support the retired congress's potential return to congress, at least temporarily and you can join our conversation on twitter and you can also find us. you can prevent gas with beano meltaways,

or treat gas with these after you get it. now that's like sunblock before or sun burn cream later. oh, somebody out there's saying, now i get it! take beano before and there'll be no gas. take beano before

so, i'm working on a cistern intake valve, and the guy hands me a locknut wrench. no way! i'm like, what is this, a drainpipe slipknot? wherever your business takes you, nobody keeps you on the road like progressive commercial auto. [ flo speaking japanese ] [ shouting in japanese ] we work wherever you work. now, that's progressive. call or click today. i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios

well, jack lew is the third white male to be nominated by the president to his second term cabinet. he joins senator kerry and former senator hagel nominated to head state and defense. lew's nomination follow it is announcement that the labor secretary leaving her post and comes the same week as "the new york times" report that questions the growing lack of diversity in the president's inner circle. >> it's embarrassing as hell. we have been been through with mitt romney and we were hard on mitt romney with the women binders and a variety of things and i kind of think there's no excuse with the second term. with the first term, you can say people got to know who's around

that's qualified to get the job. >> joining me now, political reporter of "the washington post" and former pennsylvania governor ed rendell, also a political analyst for nbc news and on all day long talking about this and other issues. does charlie rangel have a point? may not be something that support the president want to hear but is he basing this in fact here? >> well, what's interesting about what rangel said was that he's actually sayi ining someth that you hear privately. you have heard this time and time again. they aren't, i think, in a position to say it publicly but this is the white house that's been criticized about its lack of diversity, particularly around women. you have stories in "the new york times" about it. you have had stories in "the washington post" and chapters in books dedicated to what some see as an all-boys club in this white house.

the inner circle of the president primarily male. i think an issue here with the cabinet positions typically people look at the top four cabinet positions as the most prominent and powerful and seeing white men to take over the posts, holder looks like he will stay at least for some time period and perhaps janet napolitano will take over that position but when you have had a campaign from the president that was very much centered on women, to now come in to his second term where there seems to be a dearth of women, i think it's concerning. >> and not just the campaign but the people moved by the president's message. i was there with the exit polling numbers and the big message was, it's the republicans. you can't be all white male. the world is blended now. what do you make of this? is there a problem or are our eyes deceiving? >> today on "morning joe" we had a stat sheet saying that the president, 38% of his

appointments to most staff positions and major cabinet positions are women. >> we have those numbers. >> higher than the bush administration. a little lower than president clinton. but pretty respectable. remember, perhaps the two longest appointments and most impactful of become break to make to the supreme court and appointed two women including one hispanic woman to the supreme court. >> right. >> if i were to ask you and we don't do that, who's the most influential inner circle adviser to president obama, if you were to ask me, i'm not an insider but i would tell you valerie jarre jarrett. >> i think most people would. >> an african-american female and more impactful than the men in the numbers. >> president obama's first term, 36% women appointed to his kabl net. george w. bush, first term, 19%. bill clinton, 27 point. valerie jarrett, for people, the image stirring, you have an original photograph of the men and her leg. it is like there's her leg.

and then the white house tweeted out a new photograph with women in the oval office. you're absolutely right. i think no one would doubt valerie jarrett's influence not just from the white house but back in the day in chicago and a force of nature and the total view, talking about -- if you walk in to a fortune 500 company right now, people are looking to seedy versety and people of color. >> in fairness, i think the point was made about the big four. >> yeah. >> and the big four, there are no women and eric holder is african-american male and if he were to leave i think janet napolitano would be the front-runner for attorney general. >> yes. >> but look. i remember i lost a lot of my great colleagues as governor in 2008. i lost governor napolitano to the obama administration. i lost governor sebelius. >> what does he need to do next then? >> one of the people that's considered and probably will wind up in the cabinet, no insider information, is jennifer

granholm. the former governor of michigan, a terrific, smart, able woman. >> no longer in tv. >> no longer in tv. and i'm telling you, if i'm worried about who's in the inner circle, i want the number one person in the inner circle to be someone that, you know, is attuned with me and that's valerie jarrett. >> i'll read from "the washington post" and up all day and i want your incite. obama needs some binders of women. about all of the white guys, what a shame. not an outrage but a shame. a face of power that president obama has chosen to present to the country and the world with his second term cabinet pick is striking except for the african-american president at the top of the pyramid for its retro look, white and male. it's mad men goes to washington except peggy is leaving. i will pose this question that everyone asked today, as well. if mitt romney was selected or elected president and that was the picture of his cabinet, what

would be the reaction? >> well, i think we know what the reaction would be. we know what the arguments that were made against mitt romney during the campaign. some of the similar language you see route marcus using in that editorial about "mad men." a 1950s version of america that people sort of accuse mitt romney of having. in some ways, i think if you look at that photo, it sort of suggests the same thing with all of those men as counselors to the president. valerie jarrett there and striking that you can't see her, that she is in the background and all you do see is her leg. >> governor rendell can't stop shaking his head. >> but boy, never in the background -- >> no. but the comment of retro. >> he's ignoring eric holder and the two supreme court justice appointments and napolitano and

sebeli sebelius. who's going to implement the health care bill? >> what about charlie rangel with the harsh words? here's an african-american leader. you're not buying it? >> no, no. look. i have great respect for charlie. i wish the optics were better but i have great regard for john kerry. but i think down deep the president might have wanted susan rice and it was the republicans that stopped susan rice from becoming secretary of state. i have great regard for senator hagel and i think he's a great choice. jack lew, women qualified for the positions? absolutely. >> do you believe that there is some meeting happens right now to try to appropriately deal with this? i mean, no one wants the job just based on the gender or color. you want to say i earned my way in this and we know the realities of doors opened and closed in our nation's past to women, to people of color. do you think given the situation, the exposure there's serious talk behind the scenes at the white house? >> absolutely. i think that's right. there's some serious talk about how to fill out the rest of the

cabinet. you saw the white house rush to essentially say, hey, wait a minute, we have the folks staying. holder and sebelius but to me in some ways they weren't in tune to this initially going in to this and only speaks to the lack ofdy rersty. no one in that room to say, listen, maybe we have a problem with the optics with rolling out all of these white male candidates. >> last thing i'd say, tamron, look. this is important. we want to create good role models for our citizens but in the end if i was an american woman, the most important thing to me would be the policies the president's forwarded and he's forwarded policies that have been incredibly women friendly. >> all right. thank you very much. we appreciate it. thank you both. >> thank you. next up, an update on the deadly flu outbreak. e.r.s are flooded with flu patients. some hospitals setting up tents outside to deal with the overflow of sick people. plus, president obama will take the oath of office using two historic bibles this year.

we will reveal the or jins of those bibles. it's one of the things we thought you should know. michael and mia are keeping an eye on their inventory. they're always ready for customers who order seed bombs from their company visual lingual. strong relationships with suppliers and knowing clients' habits help them maintain a balanced inventory. ♪ you know my heart burns for you... ♪ i'm up next, but now i'm singing the heartburn blues.

hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief. cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. ♪ oh what a relief it is!

woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ heart rate increases ] man: a few inches of water caused all this? [ heart rate increases ] woman #2: but i don't even live near the water. what you don't know about flood insurance may shock you -- including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as $129 a year. for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen. has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy. is a fantastic experience. 30 shrimp for $11.99. i can't imagine anything better. you're getting a ton of shrimp, and it tastes really good!

[ male announcer ] hurry in to red lobster's 30 shrimp for just $11.99! choose any two of five savory shrimp selections, like mango jalapeño shrimp and parmesan crunch shrimp. two delicious shrimp selections on one plate! all with salad and unlimited cheddar bay biscuits. 30 shrimp, just $11.99 for a limited time. wow, that's a lot of shrimp. i'm ryon stewart, i'm the ultimate shrimp lover, and i sea food differently. in just a few hours, the president of afghanistan will meet with secretary of state hillary clinton at the state department. karzai made a visit to the pentagon this morning received with full honors of secretary of defense panetta. karzai met with top military officials before touring the pentagon memorial with the defense secretary. the visit concludes tomorrow with a highly anticipated meeting with the president at the white house. and still ahead, we're learning new details about nfl player junior sayeh's death and the disease he was suffering

from before his suicide. did it play a role in his death? plus, new liberal support for congressman barney frank after the retiring democrat makes it clear he wants, well, he wants to temporarily fill john kerry's soon to be vacated senate seat. and be sure to check out the "news nation" tumbr page. this photograph is of someone hiding from the cold. we ask you, can you guess who's behind the blanket? the answer is at the bolt tom of the screen to the left.

so, we all set? i've got two tickets to paradise! pack your bags, we'll leave tonight. uhh, it's next month, actually... eddie continues singing: to tickets to... paradiiiiiise! no four. remember? whoooa whooaa whooo! you know ronny, folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. and how happy are they jimmy? happier than eddie money running a travel agency. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. our nbc news first read team reports today on the momentum building behind one of the potential candidates to fill john kerry's senate seat if confirmed as secretary of state. first read notes liberal organizations are beginning to coales around retired congressman frank to serve as

the interim appointment. >> these next three months are going to be about as important set of three months maybe since the new deal because we have compressed these things in there and that's why i volunteered. >> so joining me now live nbc news senior political editor mark murray. that was barney frank last night. he first said this on "morning joe" and then "last word" last night explaining why he feels it's necessary or would be necessary to have him at the table for that short time. >> tamron, as you mentioned, progressive groups are beginning to line up and coe les around barney frank with the change campaign that endorsed him yesterday and moveon.org, the liberal group, has almost -- about 7,000 online signatures for the governor to pick him. duval patrick make it is interim pick to fill john kerry's senate

seat that would be vacated becoming secretary state. first john kerry has to vacate that seat. >> so you pointed out the progressive change campaign committee and others tossed support if you will behind barney frank but what about those that don't feel it's appropriate? >> well, you know, right now, those are the group that is have decided to play in and it's an interesting development, tamron, because we saw conservative groups do the same thing with the senate seat in south carolina that jim demint ended up giving up where several conservative organizations all decided to start lining up around tim scott and actually in some ways you could argue forced nikki haley the governor of south carolina to pick tim scott and you can see it from the left. it isn't as loud as the clamor of tim scott in south carolina for that senate seat but see that liberal groups trying to elbow the way to force duval patrick to pick somebody who they believe is an outspoken liberal.

>> you mentioned a few possible replacements in your article, as well, today. a few others. >> the other folks it would end up being if duval patrick picks somebody, it's vicki kennedy. the wife of the late ted kennedy as well as somebody like michael dukak dukakis, the former massachusetts governor. right now, there doesn't seem to be an overwhelming favorite. duval patrick is the one who will end up picking this person and also duval patrick is incredibly close to the white house and he probably won't pick anyone that doesn't have the blessing from the man who sits in the oval office, president obama. >> makes sense there. mark, thank you very much. see you tomorrow. >> thanks, tamron. >> thanks, mark. hospitals around the country are struggling to keep up with a deadly flu outbreak that's flooding emergency rooms. this year's strain is unusually strong and seems to be hitting the peak. at this time, listen to this, last week the flu killed 18

people. yesterday, 18 deaths were reported in just one state, massachusetts. boston's mayor declared a public health emergency and according to the cdc 41 states are now reporting widespread flu activity and since october, more than 2,200 people hospitalized because of the flu. nbc's kevin tibbles in milwaukee with a look at how one hospital is coping. >> reporter: tamron, here at the st. fran rice hospital in milwaukee, like other hospitals in this city, they're practicing something they called diversion whereby there are so many flu patients flooding the emergency rooms, they're diverting ambulances to places where they could actually accommodate the patients. i'm now joined by physicians assistant alison grati. we all had flu when we were kids. mom made us go to bed, take aspirin, drink fluids. do you need to go to the emergency room? >> so it's a great question. for most people it's not necessary to go to the hospital.

if they have fever, flu-like symptoms which would be the cough, okay, sore throat. >> reporter: high fever. >> correct. for most people that's not necessary. there is a group of people that we would be more concerned about, that would be those of the very elderly, diabetic individuals potentially. >> reporter: and babies. >> young infants, correct. >> reporter: and in that case, then the emergency room probably is the right place to go but for most of us, unfortunately, with the flu, it's a drag but you got to go to bed and you should stay there until you get better? >> exactly. >> reporter: or can i go back to work tomorrow? >> avoid contact with others. avoid that transmission. >> reporter: of course to avoid winding up flat on your back in the first place, a shot in the arm at your physician's office is the way to go. >> i can't stress that enough. an influenza vaccine most everybody is appropriate. >> reporter: does it work? >> it does. most of the time it should. you can only predict so well so -- but we attempt to --

specialists. >> reporter: better to be safe than sorry. >> that's right. >> reporter: tamron, back to you. >> thank you very much. up next -- >> blood's been spilt to afford us this moment. >> lincoln steals the show grabbing the most oscar nominations. a snub for the controversial bin laden movie. then, tickets to the president's inauguration that are supposed to be free are being sold for $2,000 online. why? it is just one of the things we thought you should know. jenna shared her recipe with sharon,

who emailed it to emily, who sent it to cindy, who wondered why her soup wasn't quite the same. the recipe's not the recipe... ohhh. [ female announcer ] ...without swanson. the broth cooks trust most when making soup. mmmm! [ female announcer ] the secret is swanson. well, doctors have determined that junior seau suffered from a degenerate brain disease before he took his life. doctors from the national institutes of health studied seau's brain and concluded he

suffered from cte, a condition that shows up in people with exposure to repetitive head injuries. symptoms include mood swings and depression. school officials in stubenville, ohio, reaching out to students and parents 0 of a rape case that gained national attention. the town's board of education said it's encouraging students with information to come forward. the district is also expanding the program to raise awareness of sexual a harassment, date rape and other issues. and the fda asking makers of am by enand other similar sleeping pills to lower the recommendations dosage of their drug. new research shows blood levels in some patients may be high enough the morning after taking the drugs to cause impairment in certain activities including driving. fda says women run a higher risk because the bodies process the drug slower. 85th annual oscar nominations are out and

"lincoln" takes the lead with 12 nods. and the film about the hunt for osama bin laden "zero dark thirty" made for the nomination. and "argo" nominated for beth film but not best director. joining me is mark malkin senior editor at e. thank you for your time. >> good to be here. >> start off with "lincoln." 12 nominations. >> did not surprise me at all. as soon as we heard that steven spielberg was going to be making it with daniel day-lewis, we knew it would get at least a dozen nominations. it is solid gold. you can't miss. >> when you talk about "zero dark thirty," here's a movie surrounded in controversy and some lawmakers believing that information was given to the

filmmakers that was not supposed to be provided to the public so you have controversy, intrigue. and a lot of other back stories involved that but she was snubbed. why do you think that happened? >> you know, i don't know. i have to tell you, i don't know what happened there. this is a great movie. what's so great about this movie is we know how it ends but you're still on the edge of your seat as if you don't know how it ends. i do not understand how academy members did not nominate katherine bigelow. doesn't make sense to me. >> do you feel as strongly as ben affleck not being nominated for "argo"? >> you know how it ends and hoping it does the way we know it ends but the thing about ben is he has a career that's going really well and it just may not be his time but i do think we'll see more from ben and seeing oscar nominations down the road. >> we zeroed in on those

obviously because of the political nature of those movies. do we see a theme at all or a direction with hollywood or just by coincidence that the buzz around these particular films? >> you know, i think it's sort of a coincidence. it's also, look, we came out of an election year and people, politics are on their mind. people talking about it all the time and social media, on the web, on television. so, i think it's the vibe is there. you know? the academy always loved politics. look at "the hurt locker." "king's speech." it's not a foreign thing to them and real-life stories, it is great because you can't write this stuff if you're going to write a movie about it. >> a wild card since the golden globes are this weekend. looking at the oscar list and the favorites for the golden globes, what is your take there? >> you know what? i think, you know, the golden globes are going to be a really good precursor for the oscars. i think the golden globes to see

hugh jackman, ann hath away winning and anne in the oscar and win an oscar and hugh jackman and daniel day-lewis, comes down to just a few votes. >> and real quick, back to the oscars, best picture nominations, "beast of the southern wild" is my favorite this year. "life of pi." and which is best picture do you think for the oscars? >> i think it's "lincoln" or "zero dark third pi." there's no clear winner this year. >> impressive. we can go out and feel like we're truly having a theater experience because sometimes you feel like it's the same movie the same themes but a variety and a range out this year, at least in the categories. thank you so much. good to see you, mark. we appreciate you joining us. >> good v a good one. and our "news nation "gut check" up next. we have received so many tweets on this topic already. i'll read some of them but here's the question.

do agree with critics like charlie rangel who's a democrat saying that there's a diversity problem in the president's cabinet? you can weigh in next. we'll read some of your tweets and join the news nation on facebook. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

[ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? i've always had to keep my eye on her... but, i didn't always watch out for myself. with so much noise about health care... i tuned it all out. with unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters... my individual health profile. not random statistics. they even reward me for addressing my health risks. so i'm doing fine... but she's still going to give me a heart attack. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

there's a lot going on today and here's things we thought you should know. free tickets to the presidential inauguration for sale on the black market and sold for $2,000 on craigslist and ebay. the inaugural committee and congress trying to crack down on the sale. the tickets are given to members of congress to distribute for free. president obama will take the public oath of office using two historic bibles.

the first in lincoln's 1861 inauguration. president obama used that bible in 2009 and the second is dr. martin luther king's travel bible and stacked under the lincoln bible. the public inauguration ceremony on the 150th anniversary of the emancipation proclamation. former president clinton is named father of the year. the council collected clinton for leadership and dedication and philanthropy. those are the things we thought you should know. and time now for the "nations nation" gut check. the obama administration under the microphone for what some see as lack of diversity. valerie jarrett was there but you could bare ri tell it was there, just the portion of the leg in the background. the white house defended itself releasing this picture. take a listook.

the president sitting down with a diverse group of senior advisers. what does your gut tell you? do you agree with the critics saying president obama's cabinet has a diversity problem? go to facebook. i have a couple of tweets from the many that were sent to us in this hour. daryl buchanan says when it comes to diversity, what is the right number? isn't diversity a perspective and experience? erin says hire the best person for the job. problem when all but white males excluded. and the one and only, that's not me, that's this person's name. may not have a lot of women in the cabinet but the policies are women friendly. that's just a few examples of what you had to say to us this hour. look at yesterday's gum check. would you colorado bill allowing parents to buy alcohol for their children between ages of 18 to

20? it is currently against the law. 36% of you said, yes, you would support it. 64% of you said, no. and i actually thought it was legal for parents to provide alcohol. i didn't know that that was against the law. save your tweets. i won't read them. that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'm tamron hall. tomorrow, david sanger will join us and talking with congressman sarl shea-parter of new hampshire where the congressional delegation, all female. "the cycle" is up next. [ coughs ] shh! [ coughs ] shh! [ breathes deeply, wind blows ] this feels cool.

[ male announcer ] halls. let the cool in.

we don't argue much. we really don't. meg usually just gets her way, and i go along with it. i think it worked for matt because i did it for him. when i'm the one cooking, i'm the one calculating the points. i can microwave things. you get to eat real food. we still get to go out. we're just so much smarter about it. we can keep each other in check. going, "okay, i see you." we've lost about 110 pounds together. it helped our love life. happy wife, happy life, right? right. [ jennifer ] weight watchers online. the power of weight watchers completely online. join for free today. i'm krystal ball. this thursday, in lieu of geithner, president obama puts the money on jack lew for treasury secretary. you know, there's something rather unusual about the second term shake-up. missing the shake-up. i'm steve